The Journey of Resident Evil - Chapter 21 - The Monster Reappears

Zombies surged into the Shen Family residence like a tide. Amidst the chaos, Shen Fei remained calm, directing the family guards to quickly reorganize the confused crowd.

“Report! It’s confirmed from the rooftop that Camp 2 next door hasn’t been attacked!” Shen Fei’s assistant ran out from the Shen residence to report. Shen Fei nodded coolly, then ordered, “Immediately reinforce the gates of Camp 2! Break through the center of the enemy group! Quickly transfer next door! Women and children who want to survive, gather at the back of the line!”

The guards of the Shen Family, while not as formidable as special forces, were comparable in strength. Coupled with Shen Fei’s strong command, they quickly tore a gap open in the tide of zombies. The survivors’ group started their assault towards that direction. Everyone, men and women alike, held weapons of some kind-human survival instinct in desperate times is powerful!

“Tiankuang!” Shen Fei suddenly called out to me. I looked up at the unwavering back of this man who had remained calm until now. Without turning back, he spoke in a determined tone, “I’ll entrust Wei Er to you.” Shen Fei’s back was like a majestic mountain, always leaving such an impression for Shen Wei and her mother, as danger loomed in front of him.

Shen Wei immediately understood the implication of his words. “Dad! What are you going to…”

“Smack-!”

A crisp sound of a slap echoed.

Shen Wei clutched her reddening cheek, staring at Shen Wei’s mother who had slapped her. “Mom, you…” She didn’t understand why her mother hit her.

Shen Wei’s mother’s face turned very serious, her usual gentle demeanor fading away. “Your father and I have things we must do. Wei Er! We’re entrusting you to Tiankuang’s care. As parents, it’s all we can do, but even so, we feel deeply guilty. So please, don’t make us suffer more!” Her once stern expression dissolved into a look of anguish as she gazed at Shen Wei with eyes filled with reluctance. Anyone could see the pain in her heart at that moment. “Hurry! Break through with the group of survivors!”

“Auntie…” Xueyang called out softly. During her time with the Shen Family, Shen Wei’s mother had shown Xueyang endless care, making this auntie a mother-like figure to her after losing her own.

Shen Wei’s mother was clearly fond of Xueyang too. She knelt down and wiped away the tears at the corner of Xueyang’s eyes. “Good child, my daughter is also a good child. You must listen to your brothers and sisters.”

“Mom…” Shen Wei’s voice choked up. “Mom, Dad, I love you!” Shen Wei shouted, then turned and ran towards us without looking back.

Tears wiped from the corners of her eyes, Shen Wei called out to us, “Quickly, follow me!”

Ye Ling, holding Xueyang’s hand, asked, “But aren’t we going with everyone else?”

Ye Xiang added, “Yeah, there are high walls everywhere. They’re hard to climb over!”

“Didn’t you guys understand why Mr. Mechanic installed this kind of engine from the start?” Shen Wei said calmly.

That’s right! That vehicle is military-grade, much sturdier than civilian ones!

Mr. Mechanic shut the hood and said, “I’ve checked multiple times. The fuel injection system is covered by the cables without any issues!”

Without further discussion, everyone got onto the ATV. However, Mr. Mechanic remained standing beside the vehicle with no intention of getting in. “Uncle, hurry up and get in!” Ye Xiang shouted. Mr. Mechanic just smiled and said, “No need, with that silly lady and you, it’s enough. Take care, young miss!”

Shen Wei gave a bittersweet smile and said, “Thank you for your care.”

“Bang! Bang!” Gunshots echoed over the Shen Family, but they couldn’t stop the zombies’ advance because they were fearless, the living dead!

As I was about to rev the engine on the ATV, I felt a dangerous sensation that made me stop. The last time I felt this way was when the giant monster, which I had absorbed, appeared, and my feeling was quickly proven right!

“Roar! Roar! Roar!”

Deafening roars echoed over the Shen Family, followed by desperate screams, “A monster-! Help-! Ah-!”

Looking over, I saw three creatures identical to that giant monster from before. They were clinging to the walls of the Shen Family villa, and one had already charged into the survivors’ group, causing mayhem!

Using her UZI Submachine Gun, Shen Wei’s mother accurately exploded a string of zombies’ heads before frowning at Shen Fei, “Shen Fei, if this continues, the situation will become more dire. That one last time was hard enough to handle, even for you…”

Shen Fei, however, smiled slightly and said to her, “You are a good woman!” With that, he grabbed his long sword and rushed toward the monster attacking the survivors. “Shen Fei!” Shen Wei’s mother shouted as she followed him.

The two remaining monsters seemed to take an interest in us. With a couple of swings of their gleaming steel claws atop the wall, they crouched slightly before powerfully leaping toward us. Their speed was unbelievable, and their bodies, which one would expect to be clumsy, moved as agile as monkeys. In no time, they leapt from the rooftops, while the zombies on the ground couldn’t even hinder them. The monsters simply crashed through them with brute force or stomped them flat!

Ye Xiang and the others were seeing this type of monster for the first time. They were completely shocked by the terrifying appearance and incredible speed of the creature, leaving them unable to react.

As for me, upon seeing this monster again, I suddenly entered a peculiar state. In fact, this feeling had been present since the beginning of this Resident Evil outbreak. During the solar eclipse, I sensed that something deep within my mind seemed to be obstructing me. If I had to describe it, it felt like a thick steel wall, behind which something seemed to be hidden-something that seemed very important to me!

Although I could feel the presence of this barrier, I was unable to touch it in any way. But during the three-day coma after being bitten by a zombie, I seemed to enter the depths of my mental world in a kind of spiritual state. It was a strange space, filled with countless memory fragments floating around like shards of glass, disorderly and chaotic. These fragments acted like screens, constantly replaying events from my past. At the end of this space, I could clearly see and even touch the massive wall that was blocking me. It was a silver-white wall without any gaps, seamlessly integrated into my mental world as if it were a part of it. My subconscious told me that something was buried behind this wall, but at that time, I had no idea what it was.

Only after having a private conversation with Shen Fei did I begin to understand that perhaps what the wall was hiding were the things I desperately wanted to know. Before absorbing that monster, I was still powerless against the wall. However, after absorbing it, I found that the previously seamless wall developed a few nearly invisible cracks. But that was enough because the appearance of these cracks brought new information to my mind, like the name of this monster: HUNTER Alpha.

The attacks from the Hunter Alpha are incredibly fierce. Its claws, capable of slicing through iron and steel, combined with skin as tough as metal, exceptional mobility, and remarkable stealth, make it lethally dangerous. Just these attributes alone are enough to allow it to kill most people before they even realize it’s there.

Hunter Alphas are actually mutants from the evolution of the D Virus. In the second stage of D Virus infection, if the host receives sufficient nutrition-meaning if the zombies consume enough fresh human flesh-while their skin continues to decay and slough off, their muscle tissue will rapidly regenerate. Additionally, as they lose the human functions and purposes of “hands,” their forelimbs mutate into claws, making it easier for them to move and hunt on ceilings, walls, and similar surfaces.

In terms of form, the Hunter Alpha possesses a trunk and limbs similar to a human’s, albeit with some alterations. Its proportions don’t change much, just the forelimbs lengthen slightly, resembling apes in some ways. Hence, we can conclude that Hunters are mutated from humans or other humanoid creatures, like apes and monkeys.

Indeed, compared to other host types, humans represent the peak of evolutionary development. From an evolutionary perspective, this is a result of natural selection.

The reasoning here is that Hunter Alphas have also undergone the harsh test of “survival of the fittest,” a fundamental law of natural evolution. They’re not directly transformed from normal humans. Earlier, it was mentioned that humans infected with the D Virus experience accelerated metabolism. Their body’s tissues begin decaying and aging, the skin turns gray and bloodless until it sloughs off, exposing muscle tissue. Infected hosts feel an insatiable hunger, needing constant food intake to satisfy the demands of rapid metabolism. If this demand isn’t met, the host’s body decomposes, emitting a foul stench, with no brain function, and the body’s bones become brittle due to the metabolic burden, leading to the terminal stage of a zombie. Eventually, they either collapse on the street or get shot in the head.

The D Virus mentioned here is among the most crucial pieces of information that seeped through the cracks in the wall: its full name is DEMON. It’s a new type of RNA virus, a mutation based on the progenitor virus (X Virus). It enhances the ability to recombine biological genetic factors, yet a portion of humans cannot adapt to its mutations and turn into horrific zombies. Furthermore, the secondary infections it causes lead to various biological mutations, creating entities like the Hunter Alpha. Yet, it’s unclear how something that should have been tightly guarded within national laboratories spread and caused this Resident Evil outbreak!

When I came back to my senses, the two Hunter Alphas were just a few dozen meters away from us. For an average human, this distance would take ten seconds or more to sprint, but for the Hunter Alphas, it was only a brief three seconds!

At this moment, running away wasn’t going to solve the problem. Without a proper strategy, everyone here would end up dead!

“Vroom!” I twisted the throttle hard, and the military ATV’s immense horsepower immediately kicked in, causing the approaching Hunters to miss their pounce. The claws of the Hunters struck deep cracks into the hard concrete, even sparking upon impact!

Noticing that their initial strike had failed, the two Hunters quickly adjusted their position and resumed their pursuit. I had to steer the ATV evasively to dodge the Hunters’ sharp attacks, yelling at the top of my lungs, “Liu Yonglin, shoot them!” My shout snapped Ye Xiang and the others on the backseat back to reality.

Liu Yonglin quickly raised his gun and fired at the two Hunters. However, due to the earlier shock, combined with the Hunters’ strong defense and mobility, and the fact that my driving wasn’t great with zombies blocking the way, Liu Yonglin’s shooting accuracy suffered significantly. Out of ten shots, only about three or four would hit, and they failed to penetrate the Hunters’ tough skin. Only a few small blood bursts appeared, having no real impact on the Hunters! Moreover, their extremely fast metabolism allowed their wounds to heal several times faster. Without heavy weaponry, it’s nearly impossible to take down a Hunter. If one could aim well and hit their brain when their eyes are open, the Hunter would surely die, but the chances of that are slim because of their incredible speed.

The two Hunter Alphas managed to keep pace with the ATV, attempting a pincer movement against us. However, they still retained their brain’s key parts and could feel pain. When hit by Liu Yonglin’s bullets, they paused slightly, unlike zombies who are fearless and charge forward relentlessly! If bullets threatened a Hunter’s vital spot-its eyes-it would immediately close them, using its tough eyelids to block the shots. But during this moment, their speed would decrease significantly, exposing a weakness in their enclosing strategy!

As we desperately tried to break through the Hunter’s encirclement, Shen Fei was engaged in an intense battle with one of the Hunters using a longsword. Meanwhile, Shen Wei’s mother, taking cover nearby, was using an UZI Submachine Gun to intermittently disrupt the Hunter. While she couldn’t kill it, her actions kept the Hunter cautious and prevented it from launching a full-on assault.

After parrying the Hunter’s claw with his sword, Shen Fei rolled away to create some distance. He loudly shouted to the guards, who were ready to support him from behind, “Flashbang!”

On Shen Fei’s command, several silver-gray metal cylinders-flashbangs-were hurled towards the Hunter. The Hunter, apparently unaware of what they were, swung its claw down to strike them. With a dull thud, the flashbangs released a burst of blinding white light, temporarily blinding the Hunter with the sudden glare. Enraged, the Hunter began to swing its steel claws wildly, accidentally cutting down numerous zombies, but injuring no one else. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Shen Fei charged forward and delivered a slashing blow across the Hunter’s face, slicing through its previously iron-tough skin. He then drove his longsword deep into the wound. The Hunter, in its frenzy, knocked Shen Fei away with a massive swipe of its claw, sending him crashing into a nearby car, denting its passenger compartment from the impact.

Seeing Shen Fei hit, Shen Wei’s mother went pale. She immediately rushed to his side, firing her gun without regard for conserving ammunition. “Shen Fei! Are you alright? Please don’t scare me like this!” she cried, placing his hand on her face.

Shen Fei managed a pained smile and said, “It seems my body is reaching its limit. All our hopes are now pinned on that child. I can only hope your intuition is correct.”

“You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine…” Shen Wei’s mother murmured, her face already streaked with tears.

At this moment, we were on the brink of desperation! Despite relying on the complex terrain and Liu Yonglin’s skillful shooting to evade the joint attacks of the two Hunters, our ATV was ultimately overturned! As the nearly two-ton ATV was about to crash down on us, I realized I couldn’t hold back any longer-I had to transform into my clawed form!

I never thought I would ever need to resort to this monstrous form again, or perhaps I just never wanted to. Looking at those claws, I felt I no longer belonged to the realm of humans. I was terrified-terrified that Qimeng would abandon me because of this, terrified that those comrades I had once trusted with my life would look at me with disdain, terrified they would reject me as a monster!

But now, I had no time for second thoughts. Even if they were to reject me or leave me, I needed to protect them! This was my last stand as a “human,” and I owed it to them for the trust they once placed in me.

“Ah-!”

I roared, and countless black tendrils emerged from my shoulders, wrapping around and engulfing my arms. These black tendrils, flickering like purple lightning, transformed my arms in less than half a second. They became dark and powerful, covered in monstrous muscle patterns yet with a metallic sheen, and now featured several sharp, retractable spikes. My hands transformed into gleaming, razor-sharp claws!

I didn’t know how much my strength would increase in this clawed form, but there was no time to ponder that now. Even if it meant death, I had to make one final stand! Facing the incoming ATV, I thrust out my hands, my steel claws penetrating its once impenetrable exterior. The nearly two-ton ATV was securely grasped in my hands! The monster-had reappeared!

I could clearly feel the astonished gazes of Ye Ling and the others behind me. But I had no time to dwell on that-the two Hunters were already charging at us!